Jarome Iginla ‘thrilled’ by B’s deal

Stephen HarrisSunday, July 07, 2013

Credit: AP

Jarome Iginla

On Thursday, the day before the opening of the NHL free agent market, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli was hard at work trying to sell Ottawa Senators free agent Daniel Alfredsson on signing with the Bruins.

The B’s were facing a rather dramatic dearth of right wingers, with Tyler Seguin gone in a trade to the Dallas Stars, Nathan Horton committed to leaving via free agency and Jaromir Jagr unlikely to be brought back. Chiarelli’s prime focus was Alfredsson, still a highly desirable player at age 40.

And then Chiarelli, out of the blue, received a most unexpected phone call from a veteran player agent.

“Don Meehan called and it raised my eyebrows,” Chiarelli said. “I said, ‘Really?’ And I was excited.”

Meehan was calling with some surprising news: Client Jarome Iginla, an unrestricted free agent, was interested in signing with the Bruins.

If Chiarelli was surprised that Iginla, who spurned the B’s attempt to acquire him late in the regular season, opting instead to allow the Calgary Flames to send him to the Pittsburgh Penguins, would have interest in signing, the right winger wasn’t sure he’d be given a second opportunity to join the team.

“I wasn’t sure if there was going to be an opportunity. I wasn’t sure how Peter felt or the Bruins felt about possibly having me,” Iginla said on a conference call with local media yesterday that also involved Chiarelli. “I did ask my agent to explore it. I wasn’t sure how that would be received, (but) Peter and the organization were great. And I’m thrilled that they gave me another opportunity.”

As things turned out, there was interest on both sides. And when Alfredsson broke hearts in Ottawa by jumping from the Senators to the Detroit Red Wings, Iginla became the newest Bruin, signing a one-year contract worth up to $6 million.

Iginla, who, along with newly acquired Loui Eriksson, will fill an opening on either the David Krejci or Patrice Bergeron line, which should give the B’s two strong scoring lines. Chiarelli said he’s already mentioned his interest in keeping Iginla beyond next season.

The 36-year-old negotiated a contract for 2013-14 that will entail only a $1.8 million salary cap hit for the Bruins, with the remaining $4.2 million available as easily attainable performance bonuses. Unlike most NHLers, guys over 35 are eligible for such bonuses.

Teams can hand out up to $4.8 million of performance bonuses (which is 7.5 percent of the salary cap, which has been set at $64.3 million for next season). Any overage would have to be subtracted from the following year’s cap number.

“Jarome worked hard to get us into a deal that was friendly for us and would get him properly paid, too,” Chiarelli said. “It’s actually a very good gesture by Jarome, similar to the one Mark Recchi made two years in a row, that is a cap-friendly deal.”

The Bruins did not have much free cap space, especially since restricted free agent goalie Tuukka Rask will likely command a deal worth $6 million-$7 million per year (Chiarelli said a new deal for Rask and a multi-year extension for Bergeron are nearly finalized). But the terms of Iginla’s pact makes it just about doable.

Despite being jilted by Iginla at the trade deadline, Chiarelli remained a big fan of the longtime Calgary star.

“I don’t want to go through the events from the trade deadline,” Chiarelli said, “but I can tell you this: My opinion on him as a person and a player has not changed since then. We tried to get him then and we’re very happy to have him now. He’s a highly motivated, elite player and we look forward to him helping us win the (Stanley) Cup again. We lost a few guys who’ve been part of Cup teams and (who) have experience, so just looking at Jarome’s career, he’s got obviously tremendous experience of success and he’s, in my mind, an elite, offensive player who’s a warrior. Any time you can get someone like that, you go after it. His style of play fits in with our team.

“Jarome is a Hall of Fame forward. He’s a player that we’ve coveted from before and now we’re very fortunate to have join our mix. Based on talking to him, Jarome is highly motivated and wants to win. That’s kind of our M.O. also.”

Iginla was good for two playoff rounds (four goals, eight assists in 11 games) before going scoreless as the Bruins swept the Penguins in the conference finals.

The Edmonton native — whose full name, Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla, is a mouthful — has 530-576-1,106 career totals. He attempted to explain his decision not to OK the late-March trade to the B’s. Simply: He thought he had a better chance of winning his first Stanley Cup with the Penguins.

“At the time, Pittsburgh was really — they were rolling,” Iginla said. “They are two great organizations and (the Penguins) were just on a real roll. At the time, leaving at the deadline, I believed it was a great chance to win. We did make the final four. It was a great experience, a great organization. We would have liked to go further, (but) ran into the Bruins.”

If Iginla had doubts back in March about the B’s, they’re gone now.

“They’re a team that year in, year out is extremely competitive,” he said. “They are very hard to play against. They play a physical, aggressive style. I like that. I’m thrilled to get the chance to join them and another opportunity to be a part of it. I’m happy it was able to work out.

“I didn’t know if the opportunity would still be there, but when I saw the moves and stuff, I thought why not try and just see if it’s a possibility? And I was very happy and appreciative of another opportunity to first of all talk and see if we can find something. And I’m thrilled that we did.”